This application claims priority of Taiwanese application no. 091211395, filed on Jul. 25, 2002.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an inductor, more particularly to an inductor module that includes a plurality of inductor winding sections connected to a common contact and wound on a common inductor core.
2. Description of the Related Art
As electronic equipments become more compact, more complex and more powerful, it is generally desirable to use smaller and fewer electronic components. However, for large-scale electronic devices, conventional inductors are preferred, though bulky in size, over micro-inductors because they cost less and have larger operating currents. Inductors are the most problematic of the passive electronic components used in the manufacture of large-scale electronics assemblies because the conflicting requirements of performance, size and cost are always difficult to reconcile.
One type of a conventional inductor, particularly a toroidal inductor, has a ring-shaped core with a wire wound therearound. The two ends of the wire serve as contact points. Conventional inductors are connected in parallel in some typical applications. For example, a DC-to-DC converter on a motherboard includes two conventional inductors interconnected at one wire end to form a common contact. However, when the required number of inductors is increased, numerous drawbacks, such as inconvenience in assembling, increase in cost, bigger installation space requirement, etc., arise.
Another type of a conventional inductor has a common inductor core with separate inductor windings encased in a single package. The construction as such has the advantage of a smaller size in view of the presence of having a number of inductors with a common core as compared to the previously mentioned toroidal inductor. However, because the inductor windings are separate, an additional step is required to interconnect the same so as to form a common contact
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide an inductor module that is easy to assemble, that can be produced at a relatively low cost, and that includes multiple inductor winding sections connected to a common contact and wound on a common inductor core.
According to the present invention, an inductor module comprises a common inductor core and an inductor winding. The inductor winding includes a plurality of inductor winding sections, each of which has a first end and a second end, and each of which is wound on the common inductor core. The inductor winding further includes a common contact interconnecting the second ends of the inductor winding sections.